Area angler snags top spot in Trout Unlimited logo contest

The winning design, the first change in 50 years for TU, was chosen from 60 entries.

August 19, 2001|By TOM FEGELY, Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

A Hazleton man was honored Friday for his winning design in a national contest to create a new logo for Trout Unlimited.

Gary Visgaitis landed top spot in the competition that concluded last month when members chose his design by voting online from a selection of five finalists from 60 original entries. The winning design was revealed at TU's national convention in Portland, Ore., which Visgaitis attended.

"I was thrilled when I got the call telling me I won," said Visgaitis, who returned to eastern Pennsylvania in mid March after having moved from the area with his family in 1981. "I'm a fly fisherman and seeing my work on caps and jackets and fishing rods and dozens of other items is going to be a thrill."

Visgaitis, 44, is a graphic designer and illustrator in The Morning Call's art department. He was formerly employed by USA Today and U.S. News and World Report.

Visgaitis said he battled opposing forces -- the need for simplicity in design yet sufficient strength to convey a message -- and finally decided upon green ("the first color of spring in the Appalachian Mountains") and blue ("reflecting the sky as seen in a deep, Rocky Mountain pool") as the basic colors. He then wove in a leaping trout ("rendered in a clean graphic approach where the trout occupies the majority of the design") above blue riffles ("connecting the aquatic habitat and the fish").

"All along I focused on the main purpose; that the viewer must be able to tell in seconds that TU is about coldwater trout conservation and that it portrays a timeless, contemporary look -- clean, simple and strong."

"I found myself doing a lot of refining and tweaking in an attempt to distill a complex message into its simplest form," he explained. "It has to adapt easily to everything from small hatpins to large streamside signs."

The need for a modern logo was determined by a membership poll following the group's 40th anniversary in 1999. The logo quest officially began in January 2000.

"We first contracted for a commercial company's design and put it to a vote among the membership," said Bill Sullivan, marketing director for the influential Arlington, Va.-based fishing organization. "But there was no clear choice."

"However," Sullivan noted, "70 percent did not vote for the old logo and that hinted strongly that a more modern design was needed."

He said Visgaitis' work will begin appearing on T-shirts and hats in a matter of weeks. Other items carrying the old logo will be phased out and replaced within the next year.

Visgaitis is a life member of the 125,000-member organization that has 11,000 Pennsylvania members. He belongs to the Western Pocono Chapter for which, in his teens, he served as secretary. His design and photographic works have also appeared in Trout, the magazine of TU,. and on the USA Today Outdoors page.

He lists his favorite waters as Mud Run and the Lehigh River gorge in Carbon County. He also makes occasional drives to the West Branch of the Delaware River and Penns Creek in central Pennsylvania and holds rich memories of backpacking into Yellowstone National Park's Slough Creek and catching and releasing rainbows on Arkansas' White River.

"Right now, I'm shopping for a western-style driftboat," said Visgaitis. "Next spring I plan to guide on my home waters where my dad taught me the beauty of fly fishing."

Outdoor ramblings

Step outside at Topton Fish & Game: Kids and adults looking to familiarize themselves with any of a variety of outdoor pursuits -- from firing shotguns, muzzleloaders, air rifles and bows to casting, fly-tying and more -- are invited to "step outside" at the Second Annual East Penn Sportsmen's Fair Saturday and Sunday at the Topton Fish & Game Assn.

Last year, an estimated 1,500 participants took advantage of the instructional activities.

Held in cooperation with the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Step Outside program, the 50-acre club grounds will be buzzing with action throughout each day. Hands-on instruction in the shooting sports, craftsmen demonstrating their skills in fashioning fishing rods, long guns and powder horns, a 3-D archery contest and seminars on retriever training, firearms self-defense, women in the outdoors, avoiding treestand injuries and fox and raccoon trapping are all on tap.

Event hours run from 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. both days.

Food and music will round out each day's program with gate proceeds going to the Wildlands Trust Fund. Admission is $3 per person for those 12 and older. The club is located one-quarter mile east of Topton and one block past the Topton Volunteer Fire Co.